Wolves dig out of new digs at Journey to Churchill exhibit

The wolves had other ideas about their new digs at Winnipeg's new Journey to Churchill exhibit.

So they dug out of them.

• Winnipeg zoo's Journey to Churchill exhibit opens

Officials at Assiniboine Park said they had to reinforce the barrier that separates the wolves from the polar bears, after the wolves dug underneath it and into the polar bears' space overnight.

Laura Cabak, a zoo spokesperson, said the barrier divides a large habitat into two sections, with female bears on one side and wolves on the other.

Cabak said when staff arrived Tuesday morning they found the wolves, "who are very good diggers," had dug under the barrier and made it to the other side.

She said zoo officials didn't see any contact between the wolves and the bears, and that Aurora and Kaska were sound asleep.

The male bears, Storm and Hudson, located in a different enclosure have been on exhibit the whole time.

The wolves and Aurora and Kaska had be moved out for repairs.

It's one of a couple of glitches that zoo officials have had to fix in the last couple of days.

Another was a leak in the waterfall in the Churchill Coast part of the exhibit.

These kinds of adjustments are absolutely normal with the opening of any new exhibit, especially one this complex, said Don Peterkin, Chief Operations Officer with the Assiniboine Park Conservancy in a news release.

We had a couple of minor issues present themselves during the first few days after opening that needed to be addressed and well likely see other areas that need attention as we move forward and are able to observe the exhibit day to day.

All the exhibits are now open again and the animals are back in their own space, the zoo said.